The Power of Policy & Advocacy
We have 8 resolutions for the 2024 Convention. Click the button to the right to read these.
Policy and advocacy are keenly important if one wants to effect positive change on issues affecting rural life and small farms.
Advocacy aims to effect change on the issue one cares about. It is the expression of an organization’s (or individual’s) point of view. This can include talking with a legislator, working with a business to change certain practices, encouraging government administrations to adopt or change codes, writing letters to the editor, and speaking to groups.
Policy is “an officially accepted set of rules or ideas about what should be done” (Britannica).
Wisconsin Farmers Union (WFU) develops policy in a grassroots fashion, utilizing two types of resolutions: policy amendments and Special Orders of Business (SOBs). Both can be referred to as resolutions, which can at times be confusing. A good way to compare the two is to think of policy amendments as incremental changes to WFU’s Policy Book, which codifies member-accepted positions on numerous topics. SOBs, on the other hand, direct our Government Relations staff to focus on specific issues in each legislative session. The Policy Book and each year’s SOBs allow WFU to address various matters with one voice.
Nonprofits must have the proper IRS designation
WFU is a 501(c)(5), a nonprofit designation that allows associations to engage in unlimited lobbying, as long as it’s related to the organization’s underlying exempt purpose, which for WFU is agriculture and rural life.
WFU hires a government relations staff whose purpose is to educate Legislators and thus persuade them to support certain policies that positively affect farmers and rural communities.
How does Policy work at SCWFU?
South Central works on policy resolutions that are mainly for consideration by State Legislators. We are limited in the number of resolutions that we write and the scope of our advocacy only by the number of people willing to work on an issue. Advocacy encompasses everything we do to communicate and promote quality rural life and support our small to medium-sized family farms.
WFU Convention and Lobby Opportunities
Annually, WFU hosts a statewide convention. The importance and value of policy is demonstrated by this convention; its main purpose is for members to address and vote on policy issues. Read a brief article on the process.
Once policy is decided by those voting members of each chapter (aka delegates), WFU hosts a Lobby Day. This is a day at the state capitol where members can talk with legislators about their concerns. This also includes pre-training for how to tell your story.
A Washington Fly-In is also arranged for federal issues.
- Ruby Sheaffer’s experience in 2023
How does being a delegate benefit you?
SCWFU’s Policy committee spends a year or more studying issues. We then draft them into policy statements that our members then vote on. If they are positively received by the SCWFU membership, they move to the state process.
Each chapter is allotted 1 delegate for every 10 members. SCWFU is the largest chapter and in 2023, had 29 delegate slots available. These delegates then go to convention and vote on these issues. The more delegates SCWFU has present, the more possibility of getting the issues we worked on passed.
Photo Gallery of Conventions
